Stockholm
A Novel
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
"Hilarious, refreshing, tightly plotted, and vividly written. An irresistible read."—Jonas Jonasson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared
"A seriously funny take on death and dying." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
An ingeniously plotted and satirical dark comedy by Noa Yedlin, "a master at tone" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about aging and friendship following a tight-knit circle of seniors as they attempt to hide the death of one of their best friends so he can win the Nobel Prize for Economics.
Avishay is up for the Nobel Prize for Economics. There’s just one problem—he’s dead. His four closest friends agree that the well-earned prize must stay within his grasp, and so conspire to conceal Avishay’s corpse until the committee’s announcement. The potential of a glorious legacy for their late friend – and by extension, for them all – is only a mere eight days away. What could go wrong?
Each member of the quartet has their own motive for the scheme. Zohara, Avishay’s longtime secret lover, needs her widowhood acknowledged through an inheritance. Amos, a less successful academic than his late friend, is proving he can overcome his jealousy. Insecure magnate Yehuda needs the association to promote his own upcoming book. And Nili, a divorcee chafing against her grandmotherly expectations, thrills at the adventure.
Their plan starts out simple: turn up the AC, take shifts watching the apartment, forge texts and emails on the deceased’s behalf. But as the days pass, they are confronted with surprise visitors, hidden motives, deep-seated resentments and the devices of nature herself. How far will this foursome go to help their friend die a winner?
Packed into a drama-filled week, this witty book club fiction bristling with insight and dark humor, Stockholm offers a refreshingly honest consideration of the age when we begin to measure the sum of our lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Israeli author Yedlin's deviously clever black comedy takes on death and the ties that linger. Avishay, a front-runner for the Nobel Prize in Economics, dies eight days before the announcement. Avishay's four closest friends know the committee won't award the prize to a dead person, and they vow to keep his death a secret until the big announcement. All they have to do is answer all his texts and emails in his voice and put off potential visitors. But there are unintended complications, including a cryptic message from a woman who, based on the friends' interpretation, might have gotten pregnant with Avishay, and a sudden need to move the decomposing corpse, which results in a macabre collision with an e-bike. As the day of the announcement draws near, friendships fray under the pressure of maintaining the deception, and all four must reckon with the idea that maybe Avishay, who was given to arrogance, really isn't worthy of their sacrifices. Yedlin puts her characters through the wringer with the nonstop confrontations, which are distressing to them and hilarious to the reader. At the same time, she uses the slapstick situation to ask probing questions about the nature of friendship and mortality. Readers will be amused by this literary variation on Weekend at Bernie's.
